Now that the season is officially over, I thought we could start discussion on the teams to watch for next year. Here are my early rankings for the 2018-19 Ohio circuit:

TIER I

1. Beavercreek - One of the best players in the nation in Hari Parameswaran is returning, and with support from steadily-improving lit player Abby Cohen and promotions from a strong JV team, the beavers will still contend for a national title even with the losses of David and Ziyi.

2. Miami Valley - John John and William are also improving quickly on an already wide knowledge base, especially in history, geo, myth, and lit. If they can find two more players to complement their strengths, they may not be far behind Beavercreek. They should be close to top 10 in the nation.

3. Solon - All four players return from a T-32 finish at HSNCT, and this extremely-balanced, well-specialized team is poised to make another deep run. Solon has very few knowledge holes and will be tough to beat.

TIER II

4. Northmont - A very young team with strong coaching. Samantha, Sean, and Zach all had impressive stats at NSC as freshmen and should continue to improve over the year. They will do well this year and could be really scary in 2020.

5. Aurora - Joe Esposito is a great up-and-coming player with generalist ability and is hungry to improve. He has solid support from Sanjana, Daniel, Zach, and others. If they keep improving at the same rate and can get contributions from all four chairs, watch out. I hope they go to states and nationals.

6. Boardman - I may be a bit biased, but I am confident that Boardman will have a strong team this year. I think Danny Turillo was underrated last year; he was crucial to our HSNCT run and has deep knowledge in history (particularly American) and music, and is itching to improve and show off his generalism skills. Co-captain Jack Pendleton provides solid RMP support, and we have some promising young players (including one with good MS geography/history bee knowledge) to fill in some other gaps. With excellent geo, history, and trash coverage, they should be better at NAQT than housewrites.

7. Copley - Tommy and Srikar graduate, but Copley retains a lot of young talent, led by Frank and Nathan. Deep bench as well. With their strong work ethic and good coaching, they won’t fall too far. They always have a solid team, and I wouldn't expect anything different next year.

8. Dublin Scioto - Edward Liu experienced a HUGE shadow effect playing next to Clark, and as proven by stats from NASAT, is a strong player himself, particularly on visual art and science. The Scioto tradition of passing down the torch continues. I’m not sure how much support Eddy has or how active they’ll be, but if Eddy becomes a generalist, Scioto can still remain among the top. Probably will be better at PACE format.

9. Ottawa Hills - They return their top two scorers from a 2nd place SSNCT finish, Mazin and Daniel, but lose Will and Steven. However, they seem to have a pretty deep bench, so I’m sure they can regroup and do well again. Maybe even an SSNCT championship?

10. Tippecanoe - Michael Vestey is a good history player, and has decent support. I believe everyone is returning?

There’s a lot of parity beyond the top 3 and this could change depending on summer studying, so I’m excited to see how everything plays out this year. Sorry if I forgot anyone.

_________________Pranav PadmanabhanBoardman 2018Youngstown State 2018Ohio State 2022(Unofficial) Assistant Coach, Boardman High School

These are great rankings Pranav! I will say that I think Scioto will be very good this year, but, like you said, only if they actually play in the circuit. Northmont is scary because they don't have any real weaknesses, and seeing them grow is going to be terrifying. I hope Aurora can live up to the number 5 ranking, if we can get science sorted out then I think we have a good chance! All that being said, these are my rankings for this year.

Solon's depth and breadth is enough to suggest that they pose the toughest threat yet to Beavercreek's state title hopes. Miami Valley is also going to be very, very strong. - - - - - - - - -

4. Northmont 5. Boardman6. Copley7. Aurora

I don't think Boardman will lose any steam, even with the graduation of Pranav. I have Northmont ranked above simply because Jones always finds a way to make a solid team. And, I don't expect that to be any different this year... except it appears he definitely has the young core that will stick with it and improve. Maybe not necessarily fourth best team in the state coming into the state, but by season's end... watch out.

Copley and Aurora - echoing the sentiments as expressed earlier this thread.

- - - - - - - - - -

8. Western Reserve Academy9. Walnut Hills10. Ottawa Hills

WH returns several of their top players from an HSNCT team that went 5-3, but which faltered in the final two games. That's good experience to have for the Eagles. Ottawa Hills - what's understood, doesn't need to be explained. The Green Bears are eyeing the SSNCT prize.

Western Reserve Academy did blow out Winchester Thurston last year at SSNCT (WT beat Miami Valley in the prelims, before falling to them in the playoffs.) That counts for something, and their best player returns!

I’m honored and motivated by the high opinions of Boardman so far! It’s certainly no small feat taking over for Pranav, but we’re doing our best to ensure that his segment of the distro is covered come next season. I’m trying to branch out into other categories while still deepening my knowledge in history and music, Jack is doing a fantastic job covering RMP, and we have a few very promising candidates to tie up some loose ends on the other side of the bench.

As for my rankings, I agree that Beavercreek, Miami Valley, and Solon (in that order) are set to dominate the Ohio scene. After that, it’s hard to say. As Pranav said, a lot will depend on how much work everyone puts in this summer. Still, I see a lot of potential in Northmont (a young and hungry squad led by an infallible coach), Copley (they return very strong players like Frank, Nathan, Bibhus, and Nick), Aurora (Joey has improved meteorically and has good support), Ottawa Hills (they return Mazin and Daniel, who did phenomenally at SSNCT), Dublin Scioto (Eddy did very well at NASAT) and more. Perhaps some fresh faces will pop up in the competitive scene this season. I know that Pranav has inspired some highly motivated individuals just here in the Youngstown area.

I’m very excited for next year!! While Daniel and I will form the core of Ottawa Hills, we don’t expect to lose a step this year, thanks to our dedicated freshmen and sophomores. My preseason list is practically the same as everyone else’s here, but I expect a lot of new teams to enter the top 10. University School, for one, has top 10 potential.

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